A Woman's Touch
by Brewdog
Summary: What would've happened if Ino was the one to comfort Naruto after Jiraiya's death? Read and find out! Guess he just needed that "woman's touch"
1. Losing a mentor, finding a best friend

I am asking myself the same questions over and over in my head and no answer seems to be surfacing from the sea of despair I'm wading in. Jiraiya is dead? That's not possible... But it's happening... No, they're just trying to trick us, trying to take the one last person we have that understands our pain and loneliness... But it would explain why he was acting so weird just before he left... Whose side are you on?!... Oh, Kami, now I'm fighting myself, too...

The news of his death, though unbelievable and completely impossible, pushed me under the surface of the water I was just barely learning to swim in. I'm drowning and can't get back up for some reason. I'm Uzumaki Naruto for Kami's sake! I've taken this kind of a hit before! Sandaime was unstoppable, too, I thought, but then that damned snake came along and ended my happiness for good. No one can come anywhere near close to comprehending my loneliness... Growing up alone is tough, makes you grow up ten times faster than you should... Makes you do a lot of crazy things to keep your apartment, food on the table, clothes on your back, and you never get to save any of your money for yourself...

I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder and snap back to reality for the first time since I heard the news, "I'm not in the mood to argue with you, Ino...", I said, barely over a whisper with pain and the effects of crying evident in my voice. She isn't discouraged at all, she is Ino after all, she tries something different. She wraps her slim, but strong arms around my chest and rests her head on my shoulder. She's crying, too... Why is she crying?... Her sensei just died, too, idiot... Dammit, I'm fighting myself again! "You must understand this kind of hit... What with what you're going through, now... Well, I'm here for you if you're here for me...", I said, not sure why I said it or when I opened my mouth, it just kinda came out without me knowing it.

I heard her voice pipe up slightly, not the one that's always so harsh and loud, but the one that's soft and beautiful, "I'll always be here for you... that's what Asuma used to say... Now he's g-g-g...", she couldn't finish that sentence due to her intensified crying. I took her hands gently and pry them off me before I wrap my own around her waist tightly. I bring my eyes up to stare into her's and we acknowledge each others pain. Her crying has greatly slowed and I gently kiss her tears away, trailing up the salty trail from her cheek up to the corner of her eye, her watching my every move carefully. I don't even realize that my own crying has stopped and that I no longer care about myself, just that she's okay.

"I'll never leave you, Ino-chan... I promise you that... and Uzumaki Naruto never breaks a promise...", I said with a smile and she buries her face in my neck, crying still, but sometimes it's good to cry. I would know, I used to cry all the time when the villagers would shun, ignore, and beat me. I rest my head on her's and she gently kisses my neck.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun... You're so sweet... I don't know why forehead doesn't snatch you up and keep you away from all the other girls who would be lucky to have you...", she said and I kiss her hair lightly.

"Girls like you, Ino-chan?", I asked and felt the heat intensify on my neck. I hit a soft spot and now I'm under her armor. I like this Ino more than the loud, mean one. "Any guy would love to have a girl like you, Ino-chan... You're beautiful, smart, sweet, kind, and there are so many more amazing qualities about you that I haven't even discovered yet", I said into her hair gently and she looked up at me as if to ask if I was being serious. My smiling face seemed to tell her all she needed to know, because she smiled and my heart skipped about ten beats. "Your smile is breathtaking... See, I'm still discovering new things I love about you...", I said and that light blush on beautiful, pale cheeks darkened into an obvious one, my own blush appearing also.

I wipe my tears away and take a deep breath, letting her go and backing away. "I'll leave before people start saying you're my girlfriend and they start hating you too...", I said, a sad smile on my lips as my sea-blue eyes lock with her cerulean ones and I turn to walk off. Before I get more than five steps away, I turn and smile genuinely at her, "I hope we can meet like this more often, Ino-chan... I really enjoy your company...", I said and turned back, running off on my own, leaving her to her thoughts.

* * *

I crawled into bed that night with so many thoughts running through my mind that I didn't notice the drunks yelling or the graffiti on my walls until the next morning. I woke in the morning and my eyes slowly opened, ready to face the day until I noticed something very odd. Ino-chan was in my apartment! She was in one of my jackets and was cleaning the hate notes off the wall. I sit up silently and watch her for a moment, a smile gracing her full lips the entire time. "Great work, Ino-chan!", I said happily and she jumped, obviously startled. I chuckle lightly and get out of bed, my blue pajama pants flowing loosely with every step while my chest is bare due to the fox's excess warmth.

I pick up a sponge and kneel beside her, much to her surprise. She blushes and tries to hand me my jacket, but I shake my head with a grin. "It looks much better on you than it ever could on me, Ino-chan", I said with a cheerful tone that makes her blush harder and forces a small smile to form on her beautiful face. I start cleaning alongside her and we sit in a silence, a silence that says all we couldn't say with words as we each steal glances at each other when we think the other isn't looking.

I "accidentally" grabbed her hand when I was reaching in the soap bucket, a blush started forming on her cheeks and I wiped her cheek gently, captivated by her beauty. I didn't even notice that my hand had some suds on it. Wrong move bud. She takes her sponge and wrings out all the water and suds on my hair, leaving my eyes bugged out from surprise and I dive forward out of reflex, tackling her accidentally in the process, but I cradle her while we fall so her head doesn't get hurt when she collides with the floor.

I stare into her eyes for a moment, lying on top of her silently, supported by my hands and knees, our faces only inches apart, our lips with only centimeters in between. The pain in being that far away was too much to bear and I began to lean in near her lips. They gently brush her's when Kakashi enters my apartment through the window and grins with that same lazy arrogance as I dart back out of embarrassment, wishing silently that I wore one of those dumb masks.

"What do you want Kaka-sensei?", I ask with an irritated tone, standing up and extending a hand to Ino-chan. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to break into people's homes? When they're not the enemy, at least?"

He shook his head and smirked, "Well, if you don't _want to train, _I guess I'll go find Sakura and teach her instead", he said and I glared at him.

"No! Wait... I have to avenge Ero-sennin...", I said with my head hung and my eyes downcast. Ino puts her hand on mine gently and I look up at him, "I'm afraid even if I use _that, _I wouldn't be strong enough...", I said and he nods silently. "Even with my new jutsu... I'd only end up dead with a pair of mutilated hands... Ero-sennin said something about being a sage... He had to have learned from someone... I'm gonna find him and bring this Pein to justice", I said, my eyes now determined and full of resolve, so much so that Kaka-sensei actually recognizes me for the first time since he came in the room.

"You want to become a sage, eh? Well, it just so happens that the one who taught Jiraiya-sama is the one who told you about his death", he said and the toad sage jumped in through the window.

"You wanna be like Jiraiya-boy, eh? You want me to train you so you can avenge his death? You think you can even survive my training? Your sensei barely did, what makes you think you can?", he asked, unsure of me. My eyes flared with determination and I clenched my fist.

"I made a promise... A promise to you... A promise to Ero-sennin... A promise to Sandaime-jiisan... A promise to this entire village that I'd be the best Hokage this village will ever see! I'm not going to die until I get to be addressed as "Hokage-sama", because Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word!", I said and he smiled contently while nodding.

"You're definitely Jiraiya-boy's student, so full of determination and confidence. I like you, Naruto-boy, you're going to do fine", he said and I nodded. He looks at me for a while, almost as if he's examining something. It's almost as if he can see the fox in me through my body and is trying to understand the seal.

I nod and they both disappear, leaving Ino-chan and myself alone in the tiny room. I turn to look at her and it's almost as if she can see the sadness in my eyes, because she instantly wraps her arms around my chest. I bury my face in her neck and begin crying over Jiraiya-sensei's death all over again. Ino-chan is the only one to see this side of me. I put up a brave face in front of the others, but Ino-chan is the one who pulls that mask off and marvels at my true self. I feel myself push away from her and she looks up into my eyes, they're filled with seriousness and concern for her and the village. "Ino-chan, the men who killed Asuma-sensei, they came here for me. I can't explain why, because it's classified information, but they come from a group called the Akatsuki and they're all after me. The man who killed Jiraiya-sensei will come after me in this village. He's going to be ten times stronger than those two combined, so I need you to warn the village, tell Tsunade that I told you and she'll believe you and put up any kind of defense she has to keep the people of this village safe, I want you working evacuation detail, I will not let you get hurt on my behalf. I'm going to go train with the toad sage and become even stronger. I'll be back in time to kick his ass and save you once again, Ino-chan", I said with a wink and a kiss on her nose, leaving her blushing as I shunshin to find Kaka-sensei.

* * *

**That's all for this installment, folks. Stay tuned for Chapter 2! Brewdog signing out!**


	2. I need your help, guys!

Author's Note: Sorry I've gone off the grid for so long, but I've been distracted with so many other things (namely school). I'm back now, though, and I need your help to determine where this story will go next and what powers lay in store for our favorite, blonde hero. Just leave a review and I'll take all suggestions into consideration. Thank you for your time and cooperation. I do love the fans so much.


	3. Enter! Sage Naruto!

Hey guys, Brewdog here. I read most of the reviews and a lot of em wanted more action and third person, I'm trying really hard to listen to my amazing fans to show you how much I do care for your support. I also tried to extend the chapter because I noticed a few of the reviews were asking for more and more and I thought it would be easier for me to write longer chapters than more of them. I apologize in advance if my fight scene sucks due to my lack of creativity on the subject. I hope this chapter gets even better reviews :D At any rate, let the story resume!

Naruto grins as he's finished his sage training on Mount Myoboku with an even more perfect version of Jiraiya's "Sage Mode". He's eager to show off his new ability, but he can't think of things like that at a time like this. He's too busy thinking about avenging his sensei's death and saving his village to think about anything other than that and Ino's safety. He had made a secret pact with himself that when he killed Pein, he would tell Ino how he felt and how she helped him through the rigorous training the toad master put him through. He doesn't attempt to return to this so called "Sage Mode", because, if he did, he wouldn't have enough chakra left to fight Pein.  
He says his goodbyes to the toad master and his wife and sets off on his way to Konohagakure no Sato. He had no idea of the dangers that await him there or how difficult this new foe would turn out to be before he got there in a matter of a few minutes.  
He sees Pein terrorizing the girl of his dreams, the one who holds the key to his heart, and he sends a clone his way with a Rasengan to divert his attention. Pein takes the clone by his wrist and pushes him face first into the dirt while Naruto gets Ino to a safe distance and leaves her there with only a few words, "Hey, Ino-chan, I missed you. Kuso! I'll talk more when I'm done bashing this loser's face in, kay?", he asked with a smile on his face as he turned from her and leapt out onto the center stage, what used to be known as the shopping district until it was thoroughly destroyed. "Oi! You're Pein, right?", he asked, to which he got a nod in response.  
"And you're Naruto-kun?", he asked and he got the same response. They stand there, sizing each other up for a moment when the other five "paths of pain" appear before the God Realm Pein. Naruto closes his eyes and begins to concentrate, focusing all his thoughts on activating Sage Mode. When he opens his eyes, they are yellow with sideways, slit-like pupils and have a red, leaf-shaped around each eye. The toad master and his wife poof onto his shoulders and a giant scroll appears on his back along with a jacket with flame designs all along the bottom suddenly forming on his body.  
"Hiya, Naruto-boy, that's the guy who killed Jiraiya-boy. You'd better be careful if you wanna live to see the end of this battle, right, Ma?", he asked his companion and she nodded. Naruto smiles calmly and waits for the battle to start as a gentle wind blows some leaves across the, soon to be, battlefield. In an instant, he leaps toward the main "path of pain" and aims a punch his way, but flips backward after sensing an attack coming his way.  
"Shinra Tensei!", he yelled and a large sphere appeared around him, everything within that sphere is destroyed immediately. Naruto notes its power and that he shouldn't stick around when he feels the wind chakra stirring around like he just did. He hardly finishes his thoughts, and lands about fifty feet away from them, when Hell Realm Pein attacks with a super strong punch that Naruto flips backward and lands on his hands. He uses this position to easily dodge a kick thrown at his stomach and spins on his hand, turning this dodge into a full-on assault as he spins rapidly and kicks with not even half his strength, but the puppet crumbles under the intense pounding it's been taking. The new Animal Realm Pein summons two hard beaked birds and four bulls, sending them towards Naruto as he takes two of the bulls by their horns and throws them into the remaining two while dodging pecks coming from the birds. He looks up at the birds and the wind around them begins to spin, similar to a dangerous tornado, and they are flung to the ground where they break on impact.  
Naruto charges toward them and readies a Rasengan, when the Hungry Ghost Realm Pein steps out front and takes the brunt of the blow, absorbing the chakra completely. He looks pleased with himself with a devious smirk on his lips until he begins to feel just how much power he has absorbed in that one attack. He destabilizes and explodes due to the overload on chakra absorption. Naruto sends a punch into the Animal Realm Pein and a kick toward the Human Realm Pein, who dodges with his speed. Naruto smirks as he has already sent a clone behind him and when the puppet figures that out, it's much too late as he's been shattered into millions of pieces and the clone is helping Naruto create an Odama Rasengan and assists him in carrying it as they charge towards the God Realm Pein. The Demon Realm Pein throws a heavy punch his way and he uses his clone to dodge it while he headbutts the puppet to knock him off his balance and, immediately afterward, sends his knee up into his stomach, cracking the puppet and causing it to shatter with its next movement. Naruto charges at Pein and jumps to avoid the Shinra Tensei, when he comes down, he extends his arm out completely, "Odama Rasengan!", he shouted as the only remaining Pein barely gets out of the way in time to watch a giant crater being formed by the young man's attack.  
"We can help too, Naruto-boy, just let us in on your plan and we'll take the place of your clones", the old toad master said and he nodded, sending him his thoughts of a plan along with his wife. He's panting when they both nod and take their positions. Naruto creates a few clones to throw him off and Fukasaku sends a high powered gust of wind at Pein while Shima fires a continuous blast of high pressured water at him. Naruto has his clones create two Odama Rasengan and he fuses the two together to create his newest technique that he developed during his training on the mountain: the Subarashi Rasengan. The Subarashi Rasengan is twice as large as the Odama Rasengan and ten thousand times as powerful. He takes his new weapon and throws it at Pein, who is distracted by the clones and toad masters. Pein flips backward and uses his Shinra Tensei to deflect the attacks while Naruto watches in horror as the attack comes flying back at him.  
"Kuso!", he yelled as he stuck his hands out in front and pushed the sphere of pure chakra pack with all his might, the weight being much more than he's ever lifted before in his life. He struggles with all the strength in his body and eventually gets it back up where he can use it as he is now used to the weight. He charges toward Pein and slams it into his chest, but it only succeeds in ripping his cloak in the upper part of his body, as he had used the Shinra Tensei to deflect most of the power of the attack. A few bruises have already appeared on his chest from the attack, but there is little else showing the success of the attack at all. Naruto quickly retreats, dodging Pein's kick with a back-flip in the process. When he lands, the toad heads nod at him and he goes through the hand signs and summons Gamakichi, Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro. He then takes the scroll and jacket off, cracking his knuckles and standing still to replenish as much nature chakra as he can to continue the senjutsu. Gamakichi acts as a bodyguard while the other three are on the offensive. Bunta shoots ball after ball of fire at Pein using his toad oil technique while Ken attacks with his sasumata. Hiro works with Ken to catch the so called "sage" off balance by slashing at him with his swords. Naruto quickly develops some sort of plan, knowing they won't be able to hold his attention for much longer. He suddenly springs off Kichi's head and goes headlong into battle, landing in front of Pein and dodging a quick strike aimed at his head. "You're not so good at taijutsu, are you? That was the other puppet's job, huh?", he asked teasingly, hoping to make him angry and have him make mistakes. He simply scoffs and continues to strike at him while Naruto keeps dodging with ease and uses a back-flip to land on his hands and kick him in the chest. "Bunta-san! Some fire would be nice! Keep him on the defensive, ya know?", he requested of the chief toad, who nodded and began to spit fire balls at the Rinnegan wielder.  
"Your plan will not help you to defeat me, I am unstoppable, I am Pain in human form!", he yelled while he picked himself up from the ground. He quickly dodges two fireballs and doesn't see Naruto replace himself with a clone while he summons two more that create a Rasenshuriken. When he switches back with the clone, keeping him in case he needs to use a substitution jutsu, he sees Pein is preoccupied with Bunta, Ken, and Hiro.  
He throws it straight at him and it flies at him with intense speed, "Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!", he shouted as Pein jumps over it and he grins, "Explode!", Pein, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't escape the blast and is sent flying across the battlefield. He appears unconscious and Ino runs onto the battleground, hugging him tightly as he turns to look at her. "Ino-chan? What are you doing down here? I have to finish this and he's got a lot more fight in him", he said and she only held onto him tighter, not wanting to let go. A second later Pein is behind them and Naruto tries to locate him, but can't until it's too late, he's already put a pole through Ino's lower chest. She falls to the ground and the senjutsu dissipates as he removes the pole and checks to see if she's still alive, taking a kick directly to the head from Pein and not budging an inch as he gently lays her down, his jacket under her head like a pillow. "You bastard!", he yelled, demonic energy dripping from his voice and surrounding his entire body.  
"Finally, I get to witness the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune", he said with an amused tone as Naruto's fangs and claws grow longer. His hair becomes frazzled while his lips turn black and his eyes go red. His pupils change from slit-looking to slits of a fox in rage. His skin begins to peel away piece by piece and all that remains is the demonic chakra of the Kyuubi that's holding his form together. Bones form on his body like that of the Kyuubi's and eight tails of demonic chakra have appeared behind him on his lower back. He grins at his enemy and slams his tails onto the ground loudly as Tsunade quickly gathered Ino and got out of there in the blink of an eye.  
"GAAAAAAH!", he roared and sprinted on all fours at the desired target while his tails form into fists and he sends them flying at him. Pein barely is able to dodge the fists and is caught off guard by the x-shaped slashing attack that Naruto delivers to his chest and face. Pein jumps up and begins to use Bensho Tenin to draw Naruto off sturdy, solid ground and get an advantage over him. He quickly uses his tails to grip the ground and keep him there as he growls and roars loudly. He then condenses all the dark and light energy around him into a ball and swallows it. A moment later he spits out a large beam that is just barely dodged by Pein by directing it toward the freshly created Chibaku Tensei and it's swallowed up by the black hole. Large mountains begin to fly toward the black hole and form a layer around it while Naruto as well is being sent into it and is quickly surrounded by rocks of various size.

Ino wakes up after being healed by Tsunade and looks around, "What's going on? Where's Naruto-kun?!", she asked, the second question more important to her than the first. Tsunade points to the large monster fighting to get out of the rocks again. Ino looks horrified that he'd let that thing control him and that he'd rely on its power when he was doing so well on his own. "Why is he using the Kyuubi's chakra? Wasn't he winning anyway?", she asked and Tsunade sighed, nodded, and took a deep breath.  
"The Kyuubi's chakra is released throughout his body when he experiences extreme anger. When he saw you nearly die, he couldn't take it and he's nearly released the damned fox at this point", she said and Ino looked at her wide eyed. She gets up and runs toward the battlefield, but Tsunade grabs her before she can get there, "In this form he can't see friend or foe, only things to destroy. He wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire, Ino. He cares about you a great deal and even sent a clone to ask me to watch over you during this fight so you don't get yourself killed. I think he's got a thing for you, Ino-chan", she said with a wink and Ino blushed as Tsunade laughed.  
"He got so upset when I was hurt that he let eight of nine tails of power out? Why can't I show him that I'm okay? I'm sure he'd be able to-", was as far as she got when Tsunade interrupted her.  
"No, he couldn't see Sakura, Sai, or Yamato on his mission to get information from Kabuto and Orochimaru. If you run out there, all that will happen is he will kill you and not remember doing it when he comes back to us as the Naruto we know", she said and Ino nodded, but used her mental techniques to tap into Naruto's brain to see if she couldn't talk him down from releasing the Kyuubi.

In Naruto's mind-scape, he is at the gates of the Kyuubi's cage with the Kyuubi talking to him, trying to get him to release the seal and kill Pein with the full power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. His legs are surrounded by the water that lays on the ground and he is being lifted up to the seal. He grabs the edge of it and begins to pull it off when Namikaze Minato appears and takes him by the wrist. "Y-Yondaime? What are you doing in my mind?", he asked and is put down on the ground as he laughs at the younger blonde.  
"I know you must not like me after what I did to you sixteen years ago, but I had to put some extra chakra into the seal so I could stop you and repair it once, but I can't do it any more after this", he said, a smile on his face as he fixes Naruto's seal and it takes the form that it usually has once more. "You must have a lot of questions, right?", he asked while Naruto nodded and glared at him.  
"Why me? Why did you have to pick me to put this fox into? Do you know how much my life has sucked because of it? Do you even comprehend how people view me? How they tell their children to stay away from me? How they used to beat me on my birthday? How I can't even go into certain shops because of what I hold? How I've been persecuted by the council from the very beginning of my existence? Do you?!", he shouted as years of anger rise to the surface at last. Years of taking it and not letting it show that he was wounded from it all has finally shown itself.  
"I figured, I wouldn't do anything to someone else's child that I couldn't do to my own child", he said simply and Naruto took a second to process those words before he looked at the older blonde in awe and hugged him tightly.  
"Tou-san! You don't know how much I've wanted to see you as just the Hokage, but now I get to see my father and my hero at the same time! I'm the son of the Yondaime! I knew we both had that handsome face! Our eyes are the same, too, and our hair! I knew it all along!", he yelled as he was overjoyed at this realization.  
"I don't have much chakra remaining in the seal, I just want you to know that I love you and that the Namikaze estate should be open for you to reside in, should it not be destroyed by Pein. If it isn't, check each room carefully and you will find your inheritance from your mom and I and you will learn more about us and who your mother was. Sayonara Naruto-kun, you are better than I ever could've hoped for in a son and I am so proud of you. By the way, you're gonna be a great Hokage just like your dad", he said with a wink, smiling as he ruffles Naruto's hair as a father would to his son. He disappears soon after and Naruto begins to cry for both meeting his father and losing him all over again.  
"Why couldn't this world be different? Different so I could have a family and not be the 'village scapegoat'", he said and dried his eyes as he prepared himself once more in his mind to fight his master's murderer.

Ino notices that Naruto has fallen to the ground and is his normal self again minus his skin, which is reforming rapidly. "He did it, that guy sure does amaze me sometimes", Tsunade said, happy Naruto is okay and that he didn't release the fox.  
"Who did what?", Ino asked in confusion, trying to figure out what her Hokage has just said.  
"Yondaime sealed some of his chakra in Naruto when he sealed away the Kyuubi. He must've talked some sense into Naruto so he wouldn't release it out of rage", Tsunade answered and Ino understood now what she meant.  
Everyone gathers around Tsunade and Ino and watches as Naruto stands back up slowly as if nothing had happened. They all gasp and begin to ask how it was possible except for Ino and the Hokage. He stands with his eyes closed and his head hung as he takes deep breaths and forms the ram hand sign as one of his clones on Mount Myoboku dispels and gives him all the nature energy gathered up until this point. When he releases the sign, he opens his eyes and is now in Sage Mode once more.  
Pein looks at him with a confused expression as Naruto stares at the battered and bruised puppet with a calm, determined expression on his face. "What? More senjutsu? Your master couldn't defeat me with that, your best shot was the Kyuubi's chakra and you just gave that up. You are going to die now", he said calmly as Naruto simply laughed and disappeared, reappearing as he connects with Pein's face with a chakra infused punch.  
"You say you're a god, you say you know true pain, well I have to tell you something. You are no god and all pain is true pain so long as it causes psychological, physical, or emotional damage to the person experiencing it. And I know a lot about pain from being who I am in this village, so don't try to act like you know more than me about that, because I'm an expert", he said with a grin that took Pein aback for a moment. He quickly regains himself and Naruto simply threw a punch and grabbed Pein's leg as he throws a kick at him, his attack collides with his shoulder and he uses his elbow to shatter Pein's leg. He keeps hold of him like that while he's off guard and trips him with a leg sweep as he forms a rasengan quickly and quickly extends his arm completely, but Pein rolls and it only grazes him as he makes another large crater in the ground. "Just stay still so I can kill you!", he yells as he throws lightning fast punches that would make Tsunade's attacks look like a mere push on the playground in comparison. Craters form every second or so until Naruto stops punching and spins Pein around by his leg and tosses him into a rock, but he uses his good leg to flip off of it and land on the ground carefully.  
"You are good to have come this far, but I will have your bijuu and you will die as an empty container", Pein says as he laughs and leans on his good leg. Naruto summons two clones to help him with the Rasenshuriken and two to keep him busy while he only has the one leg to stand on. They make two Rasengan and throw them at him at both directions, which he only barely dodged by ducking and delivering a quick jab to both clones. Naruto charges at him while he's defenseless and slams the Rasenshuriken into his chest while he's distracted. It completely obliterates him and Naruto tracks the location of the chakra being fed to the puppets.  
When he gets to a cave with a man who is frail and scrawny, he sees a woman with a cloak of the Akatsuki. "Are you controlling the puppets that have destroyed my village?", Naruto asks and the man nods.  
"I am Nagato and I nearly beat you with my puppets. You are very skilled, I will give you that much", he said as Naruto glares at him. Konan steps in front and readies her paper jutsu to take him out when he shakes his head. "We will talk before I die, for I know it is soon and I would like to speak with the only one to ever realize that I was using puppets besides my old teacher", he said and she backed off.  
"Why did you do it? Why do you insist on hurting innocent people?", he asks, and his response is a scoff and glare.  
"Innocent is a strong word to classify people as, a classification they don't deserve. Everyone who doesn't know pain such as I do must be shown what that pain is. It strengthens us and we become who we are because of it. Don't tell me that you aren't grateful for the pain you've felt in your life, it has made you such a great shinobi and the only one to ever defeat the leader of the Akatsuki", he said and Naruto sighs.  
"My pain helped me become who I am, yes, but not everyone will become a good person because of it. Take Uchiha Sasuke's example, he went crazy with revenge because his brother massacred his entire family except for him. Pain doesn't create good people, only the few who have that drive for a goal that you know is good and everyone else says is impossible will come out with that brightness in their hearts that creates good people. My goal was to become Hokage, everyone would always laugh at me and call me a baka for even bringing up my being Hokage, but now, people are saying it might be a possibility if I keep up the training I've been doing my entire life. I have people who help me through my pain, but if you kill off everyone except for one person, they have no one and that person will resent the world for being so cruel as to leave them alone to deal with such a burden. If you kill everyone but two people, they will most likely deal with it better because they have someone who understands their pain and someone to lean on. What you're doing is wrong, Nagato, you're not doing the good for the world you think you are. You need to call off this entire organization and try to make amends with the people you've hurt in the process", he said and Nagato sighed.  
"You may be right, but I cannot call off the Akatsuki now, they already have most of the bijuu and they aren't going to stop for anything. I will do the next best thing to try to make amends for my sins. I will bring your village back to its original state and revive all I've killed with my puppets", he said and Konan looked at him worriedly.  
"You can't use that jutsu! You'll die!", she interjected and he shook his head sadly.  
"I will die anyway, but a slow painful death, this way I'll be able to die doing something good after so long of being evil", he said as he formed the hand signs and did as he said he would. When he is finished he drops dead and Naruto helps Konan give him a proper grave.  
"Arigatou gozaimashita, Nagato-san, you were more of a good person than you could ever know", he said and looked to Konan, "What are you going to do now? Are you going to continue being part of the Akatsuki?", he asked her and she shook her head.  
"I was only ever in it because Nagato-kun was, now that he's dead I am free to do whatever I wish", she said as she pulls the cloak off and tosses the ring aside, crushing it under her foot along with Nagato's ring.  
Naruto smiles and goes back to Konoha, where everyone is ready to meet him with big grins on their faces as he releases the senjutsu and suddenly his body is so heavy. He falls forward and Ino catches him carefully, "Careful, Naruto-kun, I'd hate for you to save Konoha from Pein and die on me of chakra exhaustion", she says happily and hugs him tightly.  
"Ino-chan? Why am I so tired all of a sudden?", he asked and Fukasaku and Shima hop over to him, landing on his shoulders.  
"Because you've used too much natural chakra, Naruto-boy, your body can only take but so much and you've pushed yourself to the very limit. You really came through for us, Naruto-boy, you made me and Ma proud", he said and Naruto smiled sleepily.  
"You put too much strain on your body, Naruto-kun, but Pa's right. You made us more proud than ever before", she said and he grinned as he struggled to bring his right arm up above his head and gave a thumb's up expression.  
"I just can't bring myself to disappoint", he said jokingly and laughed lightly before his lungs started to hurt from all the fatigue his entire body has felt. "Kage Buunshin no Jutsu", he said and two clones appeared lying on the ground, pale as ghosts as if he were back in the academy during his genin exam, "Not again!", he said as he was utterly disappointed in himself but everyone else laughed. He releases the other clone and gets a little extra boost of chakra so he creates two clones to take the dead clones' places and they hold him up so Ino doesn't have to.  
Sakura forces her way through the crowd and tries to hug him but Ino stops her with a glare and a question, "Excuse me, forehead, but what do you think you're doing to my Naruto-kun?", she asked, venom on her lips and her hand on his chest to stake her claim on him.  
"Your Naruto-kun? I don't think so, pig, he's been after me for so long and I hate to admit it, but it's taken me a while to realize just how much he means to me", she said with a blush on her face as she goes to hug him and his eyes slowly droop lower and lower until he gets slapped on the back by none other than Rock Lee.  
He shoots straight up and his eyes are wider than dinner plates, "I'm up, Iruka-sensei! I don't need to stay after for concentration training!", he said loudly and everyone laughs as Iruka puts a hand on his shoulder.  
"Don't worry, Naruto, you don't need to stay after, you've proven everyone who was against you wrong and for people like me and Jiraiya-sama who were with you the whole time, this was a resounding victory. You've shown us that rank doesn't matter and doesn't dictate how powerful you are or what you're capable of. You, a genin, have done more than a kage, a sennin, on this day. You have defeated an enemy that your none of your teachers could and not even the Hokage could. I'm very proud to call you my student, Naruto", he said with a smile on his face.  
"I-Iruka-sensei...", he said, not having anything to say after something like that. He smiles and clenches his fist tightly, "Yeah, you're right, Iruka-sensei! This proves that I am on my way to being Hokage! I know I can do it after something like this!", he shouted happily and Iruka just smiles.  
"I always knew you could do it, Naruto, I saw myself in you and I knew, after you grew up a little, you'd be a great ninja and be serious about your training and studies. I've been through some of the same things you've gone through and I can tell that you're struggling to keep smiling sometimes, most of the time, actually. Only when someone shows how strong they are or you're training do you actually smile. But, I've seen a certain girl hanging round Konoha's most eligible bachelor lately, a certain girl that has the ability to make you smile, not just have you smile like you usually do, but smile like when someone is giving you a good fight in training, or when you're learning from the hands of the master. I've seen you smiling for real around that certain girl and I hope the two of you will be very happy with each other", he said with a smile and Naruto and Ino both blush furiously at that last comment.  
Naruto looks over at Ino and smiles and then back to Iruka, "We will, Iruka-sensei, I promise, and Uzumaki Naruto never breaks a promise!", he said and suddenly remembers the last time he said that, he was promising to bring Sasuke back. "There's a few promises I need to keep and I have to start at the top of the list, Iruka-sensei, Sasuke is on the top. I've nearly beaten him these last times and I know if I train even harder I can beat him with my senjutsu and bring him back, there's no way his Sharingan can best my senjutsu, I know I'll win this next time!", he said with such confidence and determination that everyone knew he was telling the truth.  
Sakura steps forward again and looks at him with sad eyes, "I don't care about that promise anymore, Naruto, I set you free of that so long ago", she said softly.  
"I don't care! I made that promise and I'm going to keep it no matter what! I don't care if I have to give my life to bring that bastard back, but he's gonna be here whether I'm in the welcoming committee or in a grave! He's like a brother to me and I want him to be here when they declare me Hokage, when I get married, when I have my first kid, when I'm being celebrated for my service and life at my funeral! I want him to be here so someone who understands what I've been through will help me through the difficult times like he used to with that arrogant attitude of his and those snide comments he always used to say, 'I'm here to save you, dobe', 'what took you so long, dobe?', 'Is that all you got? No wonder you were the dobe'. No matter what anyone else says, I've gotten stronger because of Sasuke and Sasuke alone! Whether it was competing with him to be the better shinobi or trying to bring that bastard back to the village that killed his family! There must be a lot of difficult memories for him here, but I'm guessing there are a lot of good ones as well! There has to be! I'm bringing him back and that's final!", he said, finally speaking his mind about that promise he made nearly four years ago.  
Sakura looked at him in awe, finally realizing what Sasuke meant to him and why he made such a promise even though he was supposed to love the girl that followed him around like a sick puppy. "There's something about having a rival that drives you to be even stronger, to go even longer and harder than you ever have before, to be better today than you were yesterday and keep that up no matter how hard you have to try or how much pain it brings you. Having a rival makes you strive to better yourself no matter how far you have to come, Naruto knew he had to overcome a large difference of power with Sasuke and he still rose above it and he is quite possibly one of the best shinobi in all of Konoha", Kakashi said and Gai came forward with a nod to confirm the beauty of having a rival.  
"Kakashi and I have been rivals for years and we've been pushing ourselves to our limits and beyond to best the other. So far, I'm ahead by two wins", he said and struck his "nice guy" pose.  
Kakashi simply rolls his eyes and cleans his right ear with his pinky, "I'm sorry, did you say something?", he said in his usual "cool guy" way.  
Gai clenches his fist and fire is visible in his eyes, "So cool! Kakashi, I will not lose to you for the fire of Youth is burning within me!", he yelled and Lee jumps out of the crowd to acknowledge his master's "youth".  
Naruto interrupts when his clones dissipate and he falls to his hands and knees and he cries out, "Kuso". He catches himself and quickly sits up, smiling at Ino before he passes out and lands face-first into the ground.

When Naruto awakens, he's in the hospital with Ino holding his right hand, her head is laid on his chest as she has pulled a chair up beside the bed and must've fallen asleep some time late the night before. He smiles and finds that his movements don't hurt nearly as bad as right after his fight with Pein as he brushes the hair out of her face gently, revealing her beautiful smile on full, red lips. He takes a minute to study her face, every part of it. This is the first chance he's gotten when she's not holding that mask of her own up over it and he's taking advantage of it. He examines her pale, radiant skin and long, dark eyelashes along with her neatly trimmed eyebrows.  
"You're so beautiful, Ino-chan, I just wish you'd take that mask of a bossy, loud bitch off for good. You're not that person and you don't have to hide anymore, wanna know why?", he asked, amused with himself as he notices a slight shifting in her head positioning and then it goes right back to where it was, almost like a nod. "Well, I'll tell ya, Ino-chan, but only because you looked so interested and asked so nicely", he said with a wink and grin. "You don't have to hide anymore because now you have someone to look for you who doesn't ever give up, unlike those assholes who think you're an easy one-night stand. You dress like that and they think you're that kind of girl, but then you play hard to get because you don't want the likes of them even thinking about thinking of you. Well, I don't think you're that kind of girl, Ino-chan, and you can't play hard to get well enough to shake me, I promise, and what does Uzumaki Naruto do when he makes a promise?", he asked softly, a gentle smile on his lips. He hears a soft mumbling that he couldn't quite make out and nods his head excitedly, "That's right, Ino-chan, Uzumaki Naruto always keeps his promises no matter what, so you'd better get used to having another blonde around to keep that mask down and tear your walls down so I can be a part of your life from the inside rather than just from the outside looking in. I love you, Ino-chan, and I wish you would understand that without me having to tell you outright, because, when I see your smiling face, my love for you is the first thing on my mind and my heart's racing and, no matter what, I can't spit it out because you make even the biggest knucklehead in all of Konohagakure no Sato nervous. I thought you might tell from the way we connected that morning when Kaka-sensei pulled me away that I was really into you. I didn't even know what I was doing with you until I got to Mount Myoboku and was away from you for the first time since I got the news about Jiraiya-sensei's death. I couldn't keep you off my mind and I used you to help me train. I rationalized with myself that if I could grasp this nature chakra stuff soon enough I could come in and save you and be your hero, but I ended up passing out like a loser rather than stealing your heart and riding away on some white horse like heroes usually do", he said and sighed as he finished his little speech.  
"I try my hardest to impress you whenever I'm around you, Ino-chan, but most of the time I end up looking like a fool and having everyone laugh at me. I created the Oiroke no Jutsu to see your face more often, but I could never shake these whisker marks. Back then, I kept the clothes on and tried my hardest to get your face down exactly right, but the harder I tried, the more I over-adjusted and made things even worse. I finally ended up telling myself to forget the whole thing and use it as a way to fight off the villagers who were pervs when they would try to beat me. I even got a few shinobi with it", he said, laughing all the while as a blush had crept up on his cheeks at this confession to her. "I've always been captivated by your beauty, moved by your kindness, and shocked at your intelligence. No matter what I did, I couldn't keep you out of my mind and I would always be distracted whenever I tried to train with Iruka-sensei. I would always get hit when we were training taijutsu because I'd stare off into space when I saw the sky and started daydreaming about your eyes. He called me a baka on a regular basis and stopped training with me after a while. I had to teach myself after that and never quite got the technique of the regular buunshin. I felt that I was doing it correctly and it just wasn't working, but no one was there to correct me. Eventually, I passed the exam and was hiding behind a mask of my own at the time. Sakura was part of the mask, but my relationship with Sasuke was real, the raw rivalry at least. I would force myself to act like a fool so others would have something to laugh at instead of just laughing at me and me not understanding why. Back then I didn't know about the Kyuubi so I thought there was just something wrong with me in general. I forced myself to forget about the possibility of being with you because I saw how all the parents looked at me whenever I would look at their kid, even your dad, Ino-chan. They always had a murderous look in their eye and seemed like they were going to kill me if I didn't look away in the next millisecond. I just numbed my heart and let myself forget all those pleasant memories, but when you consoled me after Jiraiya-sensei died, you thawed out my frozen heart and unlocked all those memories of the past with you. Now that I remember it all, I can't help but want to be near you all the time. I hope you forgive me if I misunderstand our current situation and your feelings, Ino-chan. If that is the case then I will freeze my heart and never let anyone thaw it out again and I will move to Suna so I will not bother you ever again", he said softly, his eyes downcast as she opens her eyes wide suddenly.  
"Why? Why would you think that you'd never have a chance with me? If anyone ever has a chance with me, I think you would be the only man in history to ever have that distinction, Naruto-kun. I heard everything you said because I woke up when you were moving my hair out of my face but didn't want the moment to end so I just kept my eyes closed and listened. I can't believe you love me, Naruto-kun, because I love you too and I was waiting for you to make a decisive move to confess my own feelings. Guess you made that move, huh?", she asked, giggling as Naruto has a beet red face and is trying to figure out if she's telling the truth since he just heard what he deemed the impossible.  
"Y-you mean that, Ino-chan? You really love me?", he asked and she nodded happily, to which he grins and hugs her tightly with his eyes shut securely for the "just in case it's a dream" worries.  
"You're so silly, Naruto-kun, I didn't think you'd be the kind of guy that would watch from afar and keep quiet about the girl he loved", she jested playfully as he turns away and she giggles, "Aww, don't pout, Naruto-kun, although it does look much better on you than that mutt, Kiba", she said as she crawled onto the bed and put her legs on either side of his body, her arms following suit as she leans down to kiss her love. He looks up at her and his heart begins to beat faster and faster as if it were racing Rock Lee, Gai, and his father all at the same time. He swallows hard as their lips collide and he closes his eyes slowly as he kisses her back with everything he's got in him, with the little to no experience he's had in this field in the past. She dips her chest down some more and holds his cheek with one of her soft, gentle hands as he simply enjoys himself and tries to give her the same ecstasy he's feeling. He wraps his shaky arms around her waist and their lips part for just enough time to get a gasp of air into their lungs before they go back at it.  
Sakura, Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, Tenten, Hinata, Neji, Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Shino, and Kiba walk in in time to see this sight and Tenten is the one to make their presence known, "Aww, you two are so cute, I'm really happy for the two of you", she said at the same time Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru let out a cat call and the two broke apart immediately, blushing furiously.  
Naruto hurts his shoulder in trying to move too quickly, "Kuso!", he yells as he tries to reposition his shoulder so it doesn't hurt, using his other arm which is in equal pain. Ino helps him by fixing his the positions of his arms and blushes even harder as she realizes she's sitting on his crotch. She quickly gets off him and is standing at his side, holding his hand behind her back to keep her heart from hurting from not touching the one she loves. "Why did you guys have to show up now? It's like you knew or something", he said with an annoyed look on his face. The visitors all laugh and Naruto forces himself into a sitting position, molding the small amount of chakra he has remaining into his arms as he lifts Ino with his nearly dead arms onto the bed to sit with her back against his chest. "Please sit here, Ino-chan, I like to have you as close as possible at all times", he whispered in her ear softly, sending shivers through her spine as she nods and leans back into his chest. He wraps his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder gently as he closes his eyes and leans his head on hers. "So, what's up? Just a general 'get well soon' or is there some news or something?", he asked, a smile on his face and they set the flowers down on the table next to his bed.  
"We just came to see how bad a shape you're in and for me to tell ya that I'd be able to take that punk down and have more chakra than you right now", Kiba said, a challenging tone in his voice as he grins cheekily.  
"Kiba, you don't have more chakra at full capacity than I have right now", he said, his voice lacking emotion as he felt his friend was being an idiot and didn't quite like his challenge.  
"Besides, Pein wouldn't just bow down to you like your dog, mutt, Naruto-kun had to really beat him around to defeat him", Ino said as she kisses Naruto's jawline and neck gently, making his throat rumble gently, showing just how fox-like he really is. She smiles and continues to play with his neck, enjoying the satisfied sound he's making.  
Sakura has finally had enough of it and decides to put her foot down at this time, "Stop it, pig! I bet you don't even really love him, do you? You're probably using him to feel loved just because he's innocent and gullible, aren't you?", she asks, a certain aggravation in her voice as Naruto opens his eyes.  
"Sakura, I love Ino-chan and I always have. I had a crush on you once, that's true, but that was back when we were kids. I'm sorry that you took so long to realize that I'm not some idiot punching bag that likes to get in your and Sasuke's way, but my crush for you died the day you told me to get lost because I was blocking your view of Sasuke training when we were eight. I've been clinging onto that way of thinking this entire time in hopes that no one could see through me and the only people who could were Sasuke, Jiraiya-sensei, and Ino-chan. You missed your chance by eight years, Sakura, I'm sorry for any pain you're feeling and I wish you no more pain than what is absolutely necessary", he said softly and she stood there, stupefied for a moment, before she tears up and runs out of the room.  
He sighs and buries his face into Ino's neck as he feels guilty for the way he made Sakura feel and the others in the room already know that he hated that because of how he selfless and giving he is and how he's just longing to comfort her, but that he knows she needs to have space from him to get over him. Ino whispers soft, comforting comments into his ear about how it was better for him to set her straight than have her believe she had a chance with him still. He holds Ino tighter and feels his heart being crushed due to the enormous amount of guilt surrounding it, but he knows he'll have to deal with it and move on with his life so that she can move on with hers as well. Ino blushes as she feels his hot breath on her neck and he goes through one of his classic mood swings, putting his mask on so the others won't worry about him as he forces a grin on his face and closes his eyes, "So what's going on between the mutt and Hinata, eh? Any moves been made or what?", he asked playfully, making the respective audience members blush furiously and stutter their responses, which are nearly inaudible if not for Naruto's acute hearing.  
"N-no...", Hinata stuttered out and looked away from Kiba while he basically did and said the same thing. Everyone laughs except for Ino, who looks at her companion with such a glare that, if looks could kill, he'd be dead for sure.  
"Stop hiding from everyone, Naruto-kun, they're your friends", she whispered and he sighed as he sensed a hand on his shoulder, though he knew none was there physically. Naruto looked at Ino and she smiled brightly, like a new star that had just formed. He pulled her in close for yet another time, Naruto licked her bottom lip gently, begging for entrance into her mouth. She complied and her tongue moved out to meet his eagerly as they battled fiercely for dominance in her mouth and soon after, his and their kiss continued this way until they break away for air. "You're so aggressive, Naruto-kun, I knew you weren't the type for watching your prey from a distance and waiting for her", she said with a wink and he tickled her sides playfully in return as she squealed and giggled loudly and happily. "No fair, Naruto-kun! Stop it!", she yelled as she tried to tickle him back, in vain as he's just muscle and has absolutely no ticklish areas whatsoever. He simply grins at her and wraps his arms around her waist tightly.  
"You know you love me, especially when I play dirty", he said, whispering that last part in her ear, causing her to blush bright red and slapped his chest playfully with a smile on her lips. "What do ya say to getting out of here and going home?", he asked and she cocked an eyebrow at him questioningly. "I have a big secret I need to let you in on, but we have to get out of here for me to do that, Ino-chan, just trust me, alright?", he asked with a smile that made her heart melt so she nodded. He gathered his things and put it all in a bag that he throws over his shoulder as he led his lovely lady to his new home with her hand in his and smiles on both of their faces.

When they reach the Namikaze estate, Naruto lets go of her hand and examines the gate, which has a scroll on it. He bites into his thumb as if he were summoning a toad and smears his blood on the scroll, the gate swinging open and he looks back at her with a smile as she is shocked beyond belief. He leads her into the estate and the gate closes behind them as he runs with her into the main living room area and sees a couple of letters and boxes with his name on them. She gives him a questioning look and he takes a deep breath, now at the moment he's been waiting for his entire life. "My father was Yondaime-sama... He gave his life for this village and came to me when I was about to give in to the Kyuubi and let him out to destroy the world after killing Pein... I couldn't believe it at first, but I always had a suspicion about it and when a man that looks exactly like you tells you that you're his son, it's pretty sound evidence that you're his child", he said happily, holding his love's hands and she smiled brightly,

That's a good enough place to end it, I think. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. This story is basically writing itself with how easily the next idea is coming to me so I hope you guys are thoroughly entertained with this little ditty. See y'all next time!  



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